As promised, here are the 11 Leadership Principals that every Manager and Supervisor could use to help them become a leader.

1. Know Yourself and Constantly Be Aware and Open to Opportunities for Self Improvement.

When you fail before your Superiors, it’s a sign of incompetence. Fail before your subordinates; it’s a sign of weakness. Nobody wants to follow or work for a weak leader. By constantly improving your leadership skills, you will not allow yourself to become stagnant and complacent. This will be seen as ambitious by your superiors and a positive and pro-active example for your employees.

2. Be Technically and Administratively Proficient:

Know and be competent at what both your doing and especially what you’re talking about. If you don’t know or understand, do not allow your ego to override your common sense. Admitting you do not know something to both your superiors and subordinates is better than proving to them you don’t.

3. Develop a Sense of Responsibility Among your Employees:

Some call it empowerment, some call it buy in, but no matter what you call it has been proven to raise the participation, performance, and overall reduction in costs and behavior that sabotages success.

4. Make Sound and Timely Decisions:

When a problem happens, when an employee has a dilemma, you need to be able to find a suitable solution as soon as you possibly can, but DO NOT CONFUSE speed for accuracy. Solve the problem, not the blame.

5. Set the Example for Your Employees:

Very simple and easy to explain, do not expect your employees to do anything you would not do yourself. This means, if you expect your employees to dress professionally, you dress a notch above. If you expect your employees to conduct themselves in a sane and rational manner, you must do the same. You cannot be the person making crude and unprofessional jokes, coming in late, calling out all the time, showing up looking like you just rolled out of bed, or conducting yourself in unprofessional manner.

6. Know your Employees and Look Out for their Welfare:

This does not mean taking them out for beers after work five nights a week. It means, making sure their needs are taken care of. Their paychecks are correct and on time, they are working in safe environments and they are getting their breaks and lunches when needed. Old leadership philosophy from a wise old Sergeant Major “If you take care of your people, your people will take care of you.” This does not mean you let yourself be taken advantage of, but you also make sure they know you have their best interests in mind.

7. Keep your Employees Informed:

Have you ever been left in the dark about something that everyone else knows? If your employees are supposed to be part of your team, they should be kept up to date on all aspects of their job and duties. Changes scare the uninformed employee. If you don’t keep your employees informed, the company Gossip Director will be happy to mis-inform, terrify, create fear, havoc, and downright lie to your employees in an effort to make your job more difficult and to sabotage any positive momentum you have going.

8. Seek Responsibility and Take Responsibility for your actions:

A leader does not hide from or weasel out of their duty. They do not blame others for their mistakes and should not steal praise when it’s due to others. If you accept the pay and title of a leader than you are expected by not only your boss, but your employees to perform the job as one. Never openly complain in front of subordinates about your boss or duties, because if you’re doing that, what you can expect them to do.

As the Leader, you are ultimately responsible for getting the job done correctly. If the employee fails to accomplish their tasks, you failed as a leader. Don’t micro-manage, but don’t think delegating authority means delegating responsibility. You’re accountable not just for the job getting done, but making sure your employees are doing the job they were hired. If you’re going to micro-manage them, why do you need them? If you cannot trust your staff to get the job done, you need to turn in your leader badge and give your employer back their money.

10. Train Your Employees as a TEAM:

There is no “I” in team, but teamwork is not a natural human trait, especially in today’s society and breakdown of community. As the Team Leader, you’re responsible for knowing your players strengths and weaknesses, coordinating who can work best focusing on teaming up strong points and limitations thus complimenting and making every project a learning tool for future tasks. When employees work as a team, they succeed as one.

11. Employ your Authority in Accordance with its Capabilities:

You are a Leader. There are many kinds of them, great, good, bad, horrible and downright lousy. Do not mistake authority for power. Do not allow your authority to overstep its boundaries and permit you to make mistakes in judgment and fairness. Tyrants are hated, leaders are respected, and bullies get their when they least expect it. NEVER NEVER NEVER YELL AT YOUR EMPLOYEES. You are not a Marine Corps Drill Instructor and your employees are not Marines.

Finally, if you found this helpful, please take advantage of the free subscriptions to all my articles, have them emailed to you for free. Also if your looking for an Organizational Development Public Speaker, please contact me at rickroller63@gmail.com

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Rick L. Roller has more than 25 years experience in Business Management, Organizational Development, human resources, and training development in both the military and corporate workplaces. He has earned bachelor's degrees in Social and Behavioral Teaching Science & Sociology from the University of Utah and Human Resources Management from Weber State University. He has a successful record of helping companies increase productivity and creativity by developing pro-active employee relations policies, Training Programs, and Effective Human Resources Procedures that reduce waste and increase productivity. You can contact him at rickroller63@gmail.com for consultations and Training Seminars.